Sporting Madness

Some interesting news came out this evening. Apparently, Columbia Pictures decided to cancel [ Will Brinson , FanHouse ] the upcoming movie of Michael Lewis ' famed book Moneyball at the last minute, only a few days before shooting was set to start. It's rare to see that kind of cancellation so close to production on any film, but even more unusual when it's a big-ticket film involving the likes of Brad Pitt and director Steven Soderbergh . Apparently, the studio didn't like the direction Soderbergh was taking the project. There's a chance the film could still get picked up by someone else; we'll have to wait and see on that front. This is a somewhat unfortunate move in my mind. Moneyball was a brilliant book, and one that truly revolutionized how many segments of people—from print journalists to television personalities to fans, bloggers, and even team executives—approached baseball. Its influence spread beyond baseball to other leagues, and it dramatically...

In the last part of my interview series for this piece on left tackles at The Good Point , I present my full interview with Jason Brewer , who covers the Philadelphia Eagles for the excellent SB Nation blog Bleeding Green Nation . My previous interviews with KC Joyner and Bruce Raffel can be found here and here . Hope you've enjoyed this series! Andrew Bucholtz: What do you see the left tackle's role as in today's NFL: mostly pass protection, mostly run-blocking or a combination of the two? How would you evaluate a left tackle's importance as compared to the rest of the offensive linemen? Also, do you think this role's changed over the last decade, and if so, how so? Jason Brewer: I think that's entirely dependent on the team he's on. We all know that some teams, like the Eagles, pass more than others. However, I would say that primarily the role of a LT is be a great pass protector. The biggest reason the guy playing on the left is more important t...

For the last couple of weeks, I've been working on a piece for The Good Point about the importance of the left tackle in the NFL, particularly concerning the different views espoused by Michael Lewis and KC Joyner . I finished it up this morning, and editor extraordinaire Austin Kent already has it posted, so you can check it out here . It features interviews with Joyner, a famed author who also writes for ESPN and The New York Times , Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings , Jason Brewer of Bleeding Green Nation and Bruce Raffel of Baltimore Beatdown . As with my previous piece for The Good Point , I got a lot of interesting information that I wasn't able to fit into the piece, so I've decided to again present extended interviews as part of my ongoing On The Ground interview series. I'll present my full interview with Joyner today, with Raffel's to come Wednesday and Brewer's on Friday. Almost of Galliford's quotes made it into the piece, so there ...